Temporary

11 April 2015

Delighted to hear Donald Kerr's book on one of New Zealand's greatest book collectors, Dr Thomas Morland Hocken, will be available in just a couple of months. I'm certainly not alone in saying how much I am looking forward to reading it. Congratulations, Donald!

From the University of Otago Press website:

Dr Thomas Morland Hocken (1836–1910) arrived in Dunedin in 1862, aged 26. Throughout his busy life as a medical practitioner he amassed books, manuscripts, sketches, maps and photographs of early New Zealand. Much of his initial collecting focused on the early discovery narratives of James Cook; along with the writings of Rev. Samuel Marsden and his contemporaries; Edward Gibbon Wakefield and the New Zealand Company; and Maori, especially in the south. He gifted his collection to the University of Otago in 1910.

Hocken was a contemporary of New Zealand’s other two notable early book collectors, Sir George Grey and Alexander Turnbull. In this magnificent piece of research, a companion volume to his Amassing Treasures for All Times: Sir George Grey, colonial bookman and collector (2006), Donald Kerr examines Hocken’s collecting activities and his vital contribution to preserving the history of New Zealand’s early post-contact period.

About Me

Originally from the United States of America, I have worked in special collections and research libraries in Australasia since 2007. My present position is Curator of Rare Books and Fine Printing at the Alexander Turnbull Library/ National Library of New Zealand. This blog is my small contribution to fostering awareness of special collections in Australasia.